Ottomans: Loss of Religious Identity

The Ottoman empire in the 16th centuries was different from the Ottoman empire in the 20th century mainly because the 16th century empire was a Muslim empire, and therefore it had religious identity. Over the course of these years between the 16th and 20th centuries, the Ottoman empire experienced a lot of ups and downs as they tried to balance their religious identity with keeping up with the rest of the world. The Ottoman empire began to fall because Europe was able to chip away at it. However, once the Ottomans allowed foreigners into their country they made a small comeback. People began to recognize the Ottomans as a place of equality for all religions. This was extremely different from the 16th century empire, where Islam was clearly the superior religion. Now there was more trade and more ideas. Unfortunately, once the Ottoman empire became a place of religious diversity, it began to lose it's identity. The Janissaries that used to hold a lot of power during the 16th century began to lose their authority. In 1876 for a short time, a group known as the Young Ottomans imitated the European constitution. Power had fallen from the emperor to smaller groups like this. However, this did not last long, and Abd al-Hamid came to power to bring back the old ways, where the sultan controlled everything.

As one would expect, this old idea of complete absolute power didn't work. With the growing power of democracies in Europe, it was clear that the system of government the Ottoman Empire tried in the 16th century, with one sultan controlling everything, was not going to be successful with the way the world was working now. Finally, a group known as Young Turks began to transform the Ottoman empire into a nation like that of Europe. As they rose to power, the Ottomans became more and more westernized. Elections were held, polygamy became illegal and divorces legal, there were schools for women and overall more equality for women. None of these things existed in the 16th century, and it was clearly for the better that they came to be.

After the Ottoman empire fell to a Turkish nation after World War I, it was clear that in a constantly changing world, the ways of the 16th century just would not be successful in the 20th century.